Are future improvements in Amp/PreAmps slowing to a crawl?

I agree with Atmasphere.  Many designs are nothing to write home about, made to a price point very similar to each other.  Other designs use better parts caps, resistors, custom transformers, etc.  Measurements mean nothing to me as I cannot hear the differences (general statement).  I recently made a Pass labs clone using better parts and it sounded really, really good, we were surprised how good it came out.  Some designers are exceptional and go the extra mile.  Making something cheap and real good is a challenge if you use custom parts though IMO.  I have yet to hear a SS amp sound like tubes depending on the design IMO.  I heard a FM Acoustic power amp and that was the closest SS amp that I really liked.  Very expensive.  No special parts so we figured that they matched up the parts very closely, but I don't really know.  In designing products, I can basically tell you how something will sound by the design, the parts used, etc.  I listen so much for changes, etc., that I really never hear the music for enjoyment now a days.  So far in my limited listening to class D designs, I can hear the sound and while I can enjoy it, it is really not what I prefer to listen to.  Not saying that I have heard enough but knowing that design I can hear what I do not like in that design.  But what I prefer may be different than what you prefer and its all good!  That is all I got!  Happy Listening.  

@geoffkait 
Ok, Mr. Magic Rocks. Go play with your mystic morphic fields now and let the big people talk about reality. 

@bigkidz 
It's hard to build a Pass amp and not develop an appreciation for the careful consideration put into the design, even if the topology isn't something radical. I think that's where the real art is. 

😡
kosst_amojan
@geoffkait
Ok, Mr. Magic Rocks. Go play with your mystic morphic fields now and let the big people talk about reality.

kross_emoji, anyone who actually believes the air in a listening room is moving at 1000 mph is not exactly living in reality. No offense, maybe you’re just pretending to be dense. Hey, that rhymes! 😄 And anyone who believes the velocity of sound is not constant in a given listening room is not exactly living in reality. Now I will let the Big Baby continue his badgering and name calling. Would it be a fair statement to say you’re ignorant of crystals and Morphic fields? Maybe a little afraid of what you’re ignorant of? No need to answer, it’s only a rhetorical question.

"Knowledge is is what’s left after you subtract everything you forgot from school." 😳
- audiophile axiom

@geoffkait 
Geeze, Mr. Magic Rocks! Can't seem to forget the physics of air, can you? Sorry, but that's a completely valid and required component in the calculation of mass and sound moving though it. It's funny how you ridicule me for reality and defend you fantasy fields. You're the one who claims to tweak audio and video gear over the phone. Not me. You're insane. 

😡
kross_emoji
@geoffkait
Geeze, Mr. Magic Rocks! Can’t seem to forget the physics of air, can you? Sorry, but that’s a completely valid and required component in the calculation of mass and sound moving though it. It’s funny how you ridicule me for reality and defend you fantasy fields. You’re the one who claims to tweak audio and video gear over the phone. Not me. You’re insane.

Ha ha! You pulled out all the stops that time, kross. I bet I know what's coming next. I always enjoy these extreme reactions from newbies. No worries, I realize you're physics challenged, so here’s a little tutorial for you. It’s not difficult.

Get smart on speed of sound:

What changes the speed of sound?

In fact, assuming an ideal gas, the speed of sound c depends on temperature only, not on the pressure or density (since these change in lockstep for a given temperature and cancel out). Air is almost an ideal gas.

have a nice hair day